Castlepook’s Hyena Passage
Archived: 17 September 2026
Abstract
Around 31,441 BCE, Ireland lay within Marine Isotope Stage 3, a fluctuating prelude to the Last Glacial Maximum rather than a uniformly ice-covered landscape. Derryvree sediments in Fermanagh indicate cold, treeless wetlands of sedges, grasses, juniper, mosses and arctic-alpine plants, alongside regional variation. Castlepook Cave in Cork preserves MIS 3 fauna including mammoth, reindeer, giant deer, bears, wolves, Arctic foxes, lemmings and spotted hyaenas, which used the cave as a den. A marked reindeer femur may indicate human butchery about 33,000 years ago, but cannot prove permanent settlement. Later glaciation erased much evidence, leaving deposits and bones as Ireland’s witnesses.